Wednesday, July 29

In this episode Dr. Gangrene takes a look at the 1959 film Return of the Fly, a sequel to the 1958 film, The Fly. Price reprises his role as Francois Delambre, whose nephew is the unfortunate accident victim this time around, his genes becoming mixed with those of a housefly as his father's had before him, becoming a half-man half-insect creature.

About this series:
Dr. Gangrene, Physician of Fright and Award-winning Nashville-based TV
Horror Host (aka writer/film historian Larry Underwood) explores the
films of the merchant of menace, Vincent Price, in chronological order
from first to last, approaching them from a scholarly perspective,
offering commentary, review and criticism.

And just for fun, here's a video someone put together for the MISFITS song, Return of the Fly.

Monday, July 20

A few months ago I saw the trailer for a new movie starring Arnold
Schwarzenegger that looked intriguing. It's called MAGGIE, and is a
zombie movie. Well, I have always been a big Arnold fan, going all the
way back to the 80s where I was obsessed with his films. And I'm a big
zombie movie fan too. So I was looking forward to checking this one out.

I rented a copy from Redbox and watched it out last week. It was written by John Scott 3, and directed by Henry Hobson for Lionsgate.

The
story concerns a zombie-virus ravaged society. A young girl named
Maggie (Abigail Breslin) is trapped in a city under quarantine. She
calls her father, Wade (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and urges him not to come
looking for her. She is bitten by a zombie and taken to a local
hospital where Wade, who disregarded her pleas, finds her. In true
Romero fashion Maggie is now infected with the virus herself. In this
film the virus has an incubation period of a couple of weeks before the
infected person becomes a zombie.

Wade takes Maggie
home, and struggles with how to deal with his slowly dying daughter. And
that is pretty much the entire story. Maggie hangs out with some
friends, the local sheriff warns Wade to deal with his daughter before
she becomes a threat, and the film ends on a very predictable note.

This
film was a chore to watch. It is incredibly slow paced and there is
very little story to it. The colors are intentionally muted, drained of color, and filtered
to a drab brownish hue that is just irritating. The biggest problem I
had was with the directing/cinematography. In probably a good 80-90% of
the shots the camera needs to BACK THE FUCK UP. The camera is just
zoomed in too damn close on almost every shot.

The acting
is good from everyone involved, and Arnold especially does a fine job here. All the problems with the film stem
from poor artistic decisions and the lackluster script and pacing. This
is one to avoid, sadly.

About this series:
Dr. Gangrene, Physician of Fright and Award-winning Nashville-based TV Horror Host (aka writer/film historian Larry Underwood) explores the films of the merchant of menace, Vincent Price, in chronological order from first to last, approaching them from a scholarly perspective, offering commentary, review and criticism.

Tuesday, July 14

Wanted to tell you guys about a new horror anthology comic book that just came out from EMPIRE LABS called CEMETERY PLOTS #1.

It is an old-school EC-style horror anthology comic that features 32 pages of chills and thrills. You can't beat that with a severed limb!! Plus it even features a prose short story written by yours ghouly, a weird western called DEAD MAN'S WARNING.

Monday, July 13

I got the opportunity to appear on the MOVIE MELTDOWN podcast recently, and let me tell you, it was a blast!

Host Bryan Meltdown got in touch with me prior to the show and asked if I would be interested in appearing on the podcast again. We had recorded an interview last year at the Wonderfest convention, in Louisville, and while chatting I had mentioned my love/obsession of Heavy Metal Horror films.

Bryan invited me back to pick a playlist of songs from various heavy metal horror films and talk about the films and music. His co-host Mysty joined us, and let me tell you, the end result was one epic journey through the metal films of the 80s and beyond!

Wednesday, July 8

When I first heard
the news of the new crossover deal for the character I was elated.
FINALLY the horrendous Webb/Garfield version was being put to a
quick death. THAT was a train wreck. I hoped the new version would
properly correct the course. But then you cast actor Tom Holland, a 19
year old kid who looks easily three to four years younger in the role.

OK,
I'm willing to give him a chance. Maybe he'll be presented in a way
that works. I'll give it a chance.

Then I learned the news that Peter will still
be in High School. Seriously? He was only in High School for the first
28 issues out of the 700 or so issues of Amazing Spider-man. He graduated High School in issue #28, published Sept. 1965. Yet for some reason
the studios are hung up on making him a high school kid.

At
this point serious red flags are going up all over. Now today, the
final straw. They have announced casting of Aunt May, and they cast -
Marisa Tomei. Please, someone, come to your senses.

Here is a picture of Aunt May and Uncle Ben, Pete's elderly aunt and uncle who raised him after his parents passed away.

This will be the third actress to play Aunt May on the big screen. The first actress, Rosemary Harris, absolutely was spot on, terrific casting.

Sally Field played the role the second time out. Definitely a departure from the source material, and it didn't work at all for me.

Now Marisa Tomei. I have NO idea what they are thinking. Hopefully it's a rumor, unconfirmed, or perhaps they're floating it out to see what feedback they get back.

Let me give you some of my own. I love Marisa Tomei. Fantastic actress. Totally wrong for this part. C'mon guys, you can do better than this! Hell, she'd be better for MARY JANE than Aunt May!

What this really smacks of is the discrimination against older actresses in Hollywood. Let's go younger, sexier!

I'm sure some of you will counter with "But she's younger in the Ultimates line." Well, let me tell you something - the Ultimates is shit. Pure and simple. I REALLY hope Marvel and Sony come to their senses.

Remember guys - With great power there must also come great responsibility. Don't screw this up again. Please.

Friday, July 3

In this week's episode of the Fantastic Films of Vincent Price Doc Gangrene takes a look at the 1959 William Castle film, HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL. Vincent Price plays Frederick Loren, an eccentric millionaire who invites five strangers to spend the night in a creepy mansion - but there's a catch. The place is haunted... and the spirits are restless...

About this series:
Dr. Gangrene, Physician of Fright and Award-winning Nashville-based TV Horror Host (aka writer/film historian Larry Underwood) explores the films of the merchant of menace, Vincent Price, in chronological order from first to last, approaching them from a scholarly perspective, offering commentary, review and criticism.

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"Reads like a literary Tales from the Crypt" - RUE Morgue Magazine

NOW AVAILABLE - Dr. Gangrene's Tales from Parts Unknown, a short story collection featuring 14 stories introduced by the feindish Dr. Gangrene, and all written by his alter-ego Larry Underwood. Get yours now through Amazon.com, available in both print and ebook format